Monthly Members Meeting
October 13, 2021 – Meeting Minutes
Attending: Officer members –Jon Perelstein AI1V, President; Paul LaVorgna W1PPL, Treasurer; Peter Healy KC1GBZ, Vice President; Tom Gunther W1TEG, Secretary. Other members in attendance included: Dee-N1ZD, Jonathan AB1HI, Steve Dick, Toy K1WYQ, Hugo AA1XV, Steve N1CM, Ray WB1U, Steve KC1MDK, Paul W1ip, Bill KB1IFY, David N1DPD, Rick K1OF, Don, Tom KB1FBX
Minutes: Meeting called to order at 7:30 PM by President Jon AI1V;
Order of Business
- Holiday Party — Jonupdated the members on the Board’s decision to hold our Holiday Party on Wed 12/8th at the Silver Star Diner in Norwalk (just off Exit 14 of Rt 95) at 7 PM. The club will provide appetizers, desert and the venue. Three selected entree’s will be available for quicker service and members can also order off the menu. Est price per entre is $25 (paid at the diner), a ~30% savings from the pricier location we used in the past (at $35 each). Raffle prizes will also be provided by the Club. Jon will send an email to all members requesting a response concerning who will attend. All members are encouraged to respond to this survey. Guests are welcome to join you.
- Dues – The Board has decided to call a “Dues Holiday” for 2022. Members will not be asked to pay dues for the coming year as a way of saying thank you for your patience during the pandemic.
- Future Meeting Presentations – Next month TBD
- Events – Tom KB1FBX is involved with a Boy Scouts event promoting Ham radio, this weekend Oct 16. If available, please reach out to him.
- Treasurer’s Report –– $15,291 remains in our accounts with little or no spend occurring. Checking is $2226 and Savings is $13,025. The club finances remain strong. The Treasurer has filed the appropriate tax forms, paid our insurance, and handled the CT state non-profit fee and trailer registration costs.
- Education/Testing – We have a VE session on Sat Oct 23 at 1pm at The Readiness Collective. VE’s needed.
- Presentation: Member Paul W1ip provided a most informative and exciting presentation on Parks on the Air. He described the process, the tools to get on the air, how many parks are in the data base, the reporting & awards available as well as the success of several Club members with POTA at a recent outing to Sherwood State Park. Some key words noted in his presentation:
- Bioenno batteries; Wolf River Coil antenna; G-90 transceiver; picnic tables in the park; Spotting and getting noticed via Parks on the Air | POTA ; JS8CALL to spot yourself; be a hunter or an activator; ADFI file formats for submitting logs to k1@parksontheair.com Paul logs contacts to N3FJP Log.
- We are hoping Paul W1ip can post the preso to our web site.
- New Business: None presented
Next meeting will be Nov 10th.
Meeting adjourned 8:45 PM
W1TEG, Secretary.
Monthly Members Meeting
July 14, 2021 – Meeting Minutes
Attending: Officer members –Jon Perelstein AI1V, President; Paul LaVorgna W1PPL, Treasurer; Peter Healy KC1GBZ, Vice President; Tom Gunther W1TEG, Secretary. Other members in attendance included: Dee-N1ZD, Jonathan AB1HI, Jonathan K1RFD, David W1DPW, Jim KC1FB, Hugo AA1XV, Steve N1CF, Steve K1RF; Marty KA1WBN; William; Don.
Minutes: Meeting called to order at 7:30 PM by President Jon AI1V;
Order of Business
- Reminder Bloomin Metric is moved to Sept 19th Bloomin’ Metric (bloominmetric.com) Members will be needed to support this event.
- The GNARC picnic at Lyz Richards is scheduled for SUNDAY August 29th. Save the date.
- Tower/Trailer – has been scrapped
- Field Day was a success with 6054 points recorded.
- VE Session is Saturday 7/31 at SoNO mall – Readiness Collective at 1:00 pm
- Jon is preparing to offer a Tech License class in the spring and a GENERAL class in September.
- FD Outreach – no response as yet but will be followed up.
- Future meetings at Shop Rite? Zig N1ICL is the contact to follow up with. Also the Coast Guard Aux building at Calf Pasture Beech is also available as an alternative.
- Meeting Presentations – Jonathan K1RFD “What’s New in EchoLink” to discuss Internet Connectivity – EchoLink updates. Jonathan is the creator of Echo Link. Latest version is V2.3 for PCs; V2.16 for IOS devices. See www.echolink.org for more info.
- Treasurer’s Report –– $16K+ remains in our accounts with little or no spend occurring other than for Field Day. Once all invoices are processed an updated report will follow. The club finances remain strong.
- Activities – Discussed a summer show & tell focused on “mobile radios”. More discussion to follow.
Next meeting will be August 29th … at the GNARC Picnic. Stay tuned for details to follow.
Meeting adjourned 8:25 PM
W1TEG, Secretary.
Attending: Officer members –Jon Perelstein AI1V, President; Paul LaVorgna W1PPL, Treasurer; Peter Healy KC1GBZ, Vice President; Tom Gunther W1TEG, Secretary. Other members in attendance included: Dee-N1ZD, Jonathan AB1HI, Steve K1RFD, David W1DPW, Jess ND1L, Toy K1WYQ, Jim KC1FB, Pete KC1PWH, Hugo AA1XV, Jonathan K1RFD, Steve KC1MDK, Steve N1CF, Beth Morgan, Ray WB1U.
Minutes: Meeting called to order at 7:39 PM by President Jon AI1V;
Order of Business
Trailer – Discussed the need to have the tower trailer disposed of as scrap ASAP. Hugo indicated he may have a person to take it.
Future Meeting Presentations – Next month (May 12th) Jonathan K1RFD to discuss Internet Connectivity – EchoLink updates.
Treasurer’s Report — $16,260.94 remains in our accounts with little or no spend occurring. With no holiday party expenses, the club finances remain strong. We have 69 paid members – down from our usual ~120.
Education/Testing – The class for new Tech license is concluded yesterday with Jon. The recent testing produced 6 new licensed Tech’s – mostly from the Wilton CERT class taught by W1IP. A few more are expected to take the test on 4/17.
Field Day Planning – We expect a “lite” version this year and focused on discussing a portable antenna i.e. BYOA as an approach. AARL will have some new rules this year including BYORadio.
Activities – Discussed a summer show & tell focused on “mobile radios”. More discussion to follow.
Presentation: Grounding a Station by Jon P. Some key points covered: A/C, RF and Lightning protection; Chasis to building grounds; RF ground approaches; see “The Wireman.com and Radio Works for more info .
New Business: Should there be a picnic in the summer? Pandemic rules will probably rule.
Bloomin Metric: tentative date is Sunday August 29th, Sherwood Island to Fairfield. Save the date to attend and support this event. For more info see:
https://www.bloominmetric.com
Next meeting will be May 12th. Preso to be made by Jonathan K1RFD on Internet Connectivity and “EchoLink updates”.
Meeting adjourned 8:46 PM
W1TEG, Secretary.
Location: Via ZOOM video/audio conference platform
Meeting called to order by President Jon (AI1V) at 7:30 PM. Finance report: account balances were reviewed by the Treasurer Paul (W1PPL). No mail reported in our mailbox. Technical Report: repeaters are working. Discussion of Saturday Morning net was had, with issues noted on using EchoLink.
Field Day Discussion – led by Hugo (AA1XV). ARRL advises to be flexible and creative this year due to the coronavirus pandemic restrictions for gatherings. Hugo spoke to a representative of Norwalk Parks & Rec who indicated all parks will not be open for gatherings probably through July 2020. One approach discussed was “individuals” appearing in the Park; or gathering at a member’s house/property to set up and operate; or individuals operate from their own property and we aggregate contacts as a club for scoring. Additional research is ongoing to use K1TA’s property or the other options discussed. Some members questioned the wisdom of any physical gathering for Field Day during the pandemic. Also discussed were software options for logging calls.
Meeting Presentation: “Deploying an Amplifier” by Tom K1TA. The slide show and discussion were well researched, packed with details and greatly appreciated by the members. We will seek to get the PPT posted to our website.
Meeting Adjourned: 8:36 PM
Attendees (27):
• Jon AI1V
• Dee N1ZD
• Tom W1TEG
• Tom K1TA
• Jonny AB1HI
• Paul W1PPL
• Paul W1IP
• Andre W2ART
• Rich K1CYW
• Steve K1RF
• David K1SZO
• Hugo AA1XV
• Jim N1ZFS
• Sam NV1P
• Rachel KB1VWJ
• Mike Cavaliere
• William KB1IFY
• Jess ND1L
• Joe KC1AUH
• David N1DPD
• Toy K1WYQ
• Tom KB1FBX
• Peter KC1GBZ
• Steve N1CM
• Ilan KC1LDQ
• Fred K1FC
• Jeanine KY1Q
• Ted ?
The powerpoint presentation recently given by Jess ND1L is HERE. Clicking the link will download the file. You must have powerpoint or a powerpoint viewer to read.
Minutes from February 12, 2020 Monthly Meeting
Attendance: see list at the bottom (16 MEMBERS)
Call to Order: 19:35 EST by President Jon Pearlstein
Prior meeting minutes: Will be posted shortly by Jon, for member review and approval at next meeting.
Membership Renewal: Members were reminded to pay their dues to update their membership.
Financial Report: The Treasurer was away at Hamcation. No official report at this meeting, but a reminder to pay dues was delivered.
Saturday Mornings at Comm Center: Members were reminded to stop in at the Comm Center (Fire House on Fairfield Ave, Norwalk) on Saturday mornings (9-12) for some radio related time. Recently members were on RTTY making 30 contacts globally and the prior week on FT8 also making lots of global contacts. Some may say the bands are quiet but the data modes can still be quite active for DX. Come by and give it a try.
Hamcation: Several members recently attended the Feb 7-9 Orlando Hamcation event. Notes from the field indicated a nice review of new equipment including radios and antenna.
Field Day: Time to start thinking about the upcoming June Field Day. Discussion on possible locations included, Vets Park, West Rocks School, Cranberry Park, Norwalk Niki site and Sherwood Island Park. No decision was made on next location.
Other planned activities: No immediate public service events are scheduled. The following are on the horizon: Bloomin Metric (End of May); MS Ride (will probably not occur in 2020 in Norwalk); Fairfield ½ Marathon (1st Sun in June).
